Peter Jackson’s Park Road To Close “Commercially Unsustainable” Film Lab

In yet another causalty of the shift to digital, New Zealand’s first-ever post-production facility, Park Road, will shutter its 35mm film processing laboratory in June, according to local reports. Privately owned by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, who acquired it in 1999, Park Road has been in operation since 1941 with credits that include the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, King Kong and District 9. General manager Cameron Harland said in a note to clients, “We have always been incredibly proud of the quality of the Lab and said we would be the last Lab standing. That has been true in New Zealand for the last 12 months or so, but unfortunately the shift in digital acquisition and exhibition, has meant that this part of our business has now become commercially unsustainable,” If.com.au reports. The company has urged filmmakers that need lab services to “get material to us quickly.” The remainder of Park Road’s businesses, including sound, picture, VFX and the digital lab continue to operate.